7 Ho Chi Minh 7

only the beginning of a long round of negotiations before

he died. The removal of this powerful leader undoubt-

edly damaged chances for an early settlement.

Charles de Gaulle

(b. Nov. 22, 1890, Lille, France—d. Nov. 9, 1970,

Colombey-les-deux-Églises)

C

harles de Gaulle was a French soldier, writer, and

statesman. He was the architect of France’s Fifth

Republic.

Education and Early Career

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was the second son

of a Roman Catholic, patriotic, and nationalist upper-

middle-class family. He attended the Military Academy of

Saint-Cyr, and in 1913, as a young second lieutenant, he

joined an infantry regiment commanded by Colonel

Philippe Pétain.

In World War I he fought at Verdun, was three times

wounded, and spent two years and eight months as a pris-

oner of war (during which time he made five unsuccessful

attempts to escape). He was released after the 1918 armi-

stice. After the war, de Gaulle served on a military mission

to Poland and then taught military history at Saint-Cyr.

He became Pétain’s aide in 1927 and served in the army in

Germany and the Middle East. During the 1920s and

1930s, de Gaulle wrote several books on military subjects.

World War II

At the outbreak of World War II, de Gaulle commanded

a tank brigade attached to the French Fifth Army. On

June 6 he entered the government of Paul Reynaud as